Welcome back to Strong Women’s new series, Going for Gold, where we’ll be looking behind the scenes with incredible female Olympians and Paralympians in the run-up to Paris 2024. From what their training regimes look like to how they support their hormonal health, consider this your insider guide to what it takes to be one of the best in the world.

This week, we’re chatting with the Team GB trampolinist Bryony Page, who has the chance to complete her set of Olympic medals at Paris 2024 by claiming gold. Despite missing out at London 2012 due to illness, she’s been on a medal streak ever since, claiming silver in Rio before returning from injury to claim bronze in Tokyo. Since then, she’s claimed two World Championship titles and will be hoping to claim the top spot at this year’s games. 

Hey, Bryony! Can you tell us how you first got into trampolining and when you knew you had potential?

I was involved in lots of different sports as a kid, including dance. But one of my friends from dance class also did gymnastics, so I thought I’d give it a try. One day during class the trampolining group were practising in the same space. They were jumping really high and doing lots of somersaults at the same time, and I thought Wow, that looks fun. It became something I really wanted to try.

I was nine years old when I fully fell in love with trampolining. I wanted to be on the trampoline all the time, so I learned the basics pretty quickly and went up to national level within a year. My teammates joked that I’d end up at the Olympics one day, but it didn’t really become a dream until I competed at my first World Championships back in 2010 at the age of 19. That year, I made the final despite competing against experienced Olympic, world and European champions, and I ended up placing fourth overall. That was when I started to believe I might have what it takes to go to the Olympic Games.  

Trampolining is a highly technical sport – what does your training regime look like to help you prepare for a competition?

I typically do four trampoline-specific training sessions a week, which equates to around 12 hours in the trampoline hall altogether. I spend a lot more time in the gym, physio room, ice bath, pool and yoga studio than I do in the trampolining hall, but that’s what it takes to make sure my body is ready to perform on the trampoline when the time comes. 

All that jumping up and down must take it out of you – how do you fuel your sessions?

Before a big training session, I’ll usually have a big smoothie or milkshake containing mangos, spinach, cherries, chia seeds lactose-free milk and sometimes cinnamon. 

At the moment, my go-to recovery food is rice pudding with cinnamon, berries, chia seeds and maple syrup. If I’m feeling adventurous, I’ll add some mascarpone cheese or cream.

As you can probably guess, I really like cinnamon: it’s filled with anti-inflammatory goodness, which helps my body day-to-day.  

Some athletes use caffeine to boost their energy levels. What’s your approach?

I don’t really drink caffeinated drinks full-stop. Coffee just isn’t for me – I’m happy with water and smoothies.

Talking about energy, does sleep play a big role in your recovery?

Sleep is something I struggle with, but I do my best to get around seven hours a night. I would definitely prefer nine, but I find it really difficult to fall asleep and I’ll often wake up in the middle of the night.

To maximise my sleep, I try to follow a healthy sleep routine each evening to help me wind down. I also wake up at the same time every morning if I can to keep my body in a routine, but it’s still hard.

When you’ve got a big competition coming up, how do you prepare?

My morning routine is pretty basic, but it helps me prepare my body and brain for whatever is to come that day.

I’ll always start my day off with some foam rolling and stretching. This helps me to feel loose ahead of a physically demanding day and keep my body taken care of so I can compete at my best.

I also like to start my day off by completing a lesson on Duolingo. It helps wake my brain up after a deep sleep and I think it’s important to be able to speak another language, so I’m persisting with it.

To finish, I always drink a big glass of water with breakfast to make sure I’m starting my day hydrated and fueled. As you can imagine, training is quite physically demanding and requires a lot of energy, so I try to make sure I’m always eating the right things and drinking water.

How do you celebrate after a big win?

Regardless of how a competition goes, I spend my time with my closest friends and family afterwards. We usually end up sitting around for hours chatting, often reflecting on our favourite moments from the competition. 

It’s a really nice way to wind down after a pretty high-adrenaline day and also helps to remind me how lucky I am to compete in these competitions. 

Being a competitive athlete comes with some hard times – can you tell us about the toughest moment of your career so far and how you navigated it?

The year building up to the Rio Olympics in 2016 was very difficult for me. Not only had I suffered an injury and had to go through rehab, but I lost some people close to me, so I was also grieving.

Mentally, I was consumed by my fear of failure and not making it to the Olympics. My confidence was low and I was absolutely exhausted because I was putting everything I could into achieving my dream, so I kept making mistakes at pivotal moments.

It was hard to believe I could achieve my goal of becoming an Olympian because I was struggling so much. I wasn’t happy at all. I think it’s the closest I’ve ever come to giving up. The good news: I found strength in the support from my family, friends, coach and wider team, and they helped me to find joy in my sport again. In the end, I made it to Rio and claimed a silver medal.

Who do you see as the biggest inspiration for women in trampolining?

The two women who stick out for me in particular are Irina Karavayeva and Rosie MacLennan. Irina was an Olympic gold medalist in 2000, a multiple world champion and still holds the world record for the most World Cup wins. She retired in 2010 when she was 37, but even made the final at her last World Championships competition. She truly is one of the greatest of all time.

Rosie is the only trampolinist in history, male or female, to become a double Olympic champion. She is a really inspirational person, not only because of her talent but because she’s always been so kind and supportive of her competitors. She also continues to work alongside the Canadian Olympic Athletes Commission and Federation of International Gymnastics to improve the experience of gymnasts around the world. 

What’s one piece of advice would you give to an amateur trampolinist who is looking to improve?

My top tip would be to listen to your coach, be brave, and enjoy the excitement of learning new skills. Just don’t forget to keep working on your old ones.

Images: Getty